The acquisition of ultrasound skills requires ability of finding an image window (i.e., placing the ultrasound transducer over a site of interest that also enables acoustic sound wave transmission towards the structure of interest). Upon finding an image window, the operator must acquire an optimal view. This typically involves rotation of the transducer around a fixed axis or point. Both of these skills require practice and the development of psychomotor skills that are married to didactic instruction and an understanding of underlying anatomy. Therefore, an effective tool for learning ultrasound must allow the user to practice both rotational and translational movements of the ultrasound probe. This invention introduces a low-cost solution that allows users to practice the skills of image window and optimal view acquisition in a simulated environment.
Methods of ultrasound simulation have been developed that force trainees to both locate an image window and subsequently find an optimal image view. These methods rely upon complex six degrees-of-freedom (6-DOF) motion tracking technologies coupled with inanimate mannequins. Issues of calibration, cost, interference, and ease-of-use issues make 6-DOF ultrasound simulations expensive and cumbersome. Many institutions and individuals who wish to teach or learn ultrasonography do not have access to expensive training mannequins equipped with 6-DOF motion sensing technology.
For the foregoing reasons there is a need for a more accessible system and method for ultrasound simulation that does not require expensive 6-DOF motion sensing technology.